It's interesting that some celebrities attract millions of viewers on TV, but when they make videos for YouTube, the videos do very poorly in comparison. Like, Jillian Michaels' daily YouTube show, for example, only averages around 3,500 views or so per video.

It appears to me that TV stars are creating content for YouTube the same way they're used to creating it for TV, but that same content just doesn't work as well on YouTube.

Conversely, when you watch some of the top YouTubers, like PhillyD, ShayCarl, and Vlogbrothers, there's something intangible that is distinctly different about their content than normal TV content. Like, their YouTube content would never work on TV and TV's content doesn't usually work as well on YouTube. I'm trying to put my finger on why that is and what those differences are, but I'm having a hard time doing so.

Does anyone have ideas about what those intangible elements of successful YouTube video are, especially as it compares to what makes for successful TV content?

I'm hoping that I can figure out some of these differing qualities to make my YouTube content better and not just default to what most people know and are familiar with, which is TV content. Thanks for your help!